Jesus Says, “Take Up Your Cross”… Then His Face Shines Like the Sun Beside Two Dead Prophets. WHY?

He Didn’t Shine to Impress Them—He Radiated to Prepare Them.... For What Was Coming Next.

They expected a quiet moment with their teacher—what they got was a blinding revelation of the King.

It’s one of the strangest, most dazzling moments in all of Scripture—and it shows up like lightning out of a clear blue sky. One day, Jesus is talking about crosses, suffering, and sacrifice. Six days later, He takes three disciples up a mountain—and suddenly, His face starts shining like the sun, His clothes turn white as light, and Moses and Elijah—two long-dead figures—appear next to Him in conversation. Then, if that wasn’t wild enough, a blinding cloud surrounds them, and a voice from heaven declares:

“This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”

Wait—what?

To someone unfamiliar with the Bible, or even many churchgoers, the Transfiguration feels random and out of place. There's no dramatic build-up. No big teaching beforehand. No long explanation afterward. But make no mistake: this wasn’t just a spiritual light show. This moment was strategically timed and eternally significant.

Let’s unpack it.

Not Random. It Was the Setup for the Storm.

The Transfiguration is recorded in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, and it happens just after Jesus says something curious in Matthew 16:28:

“Some standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

One moment they followed a man… the next, they saw the radiance of God.

To modern ears, that might sound like He was predicting an immediate return. But what He actually meant was that some of His disciples would get a glimpse of His true, divine nature—before the resurrection, before the cross, before the crown of thorns.

That glimpse was the Transfiguration.

It was the trailer before the feature film.

The sneak peek of the Kingdom.

Why? Because Jesus had just dropped a bombshell on His followers. In Matthew 16, He told them He would suffer, be rejected, and killed—and then He told them to take up their crosses and follow Him. That was heavy. That was confusing. That sounded like loss.

But just before they could spiral into despair, Jesus pulled back the curtain for a moment and showed them who He really is—not just the Rabbi from Nazareth, but the radiant Son of God clothed in glory.

Why Moses? Why Elijah?

These weren’t random ghost cameos. Moses represented the Law. Elijah represented the Prophets. Both had mountain-top encounters with God. Both had unusual “departures” from earth—Moses died and was buried by God Himself (Deut 34:6), and Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire without dying (2 Kings 2:11).

And now—on this mountain—they appear together, bearing witness to Jesus, the One who fulfills everything the Law required and everything the Prophets foretold. But then, they vanish. And the voice from heaven says,

“This is My beloved Son… Listen to Him.” 

The message is clear: Jesus isn’t just another voice among many. He is the final Word.

Why Only Peter, James, and John?

Jesus had twelve disciples, but He brought only three with Him. These three would be the closest to His moments of agony later in Gethsemane. Before they saw Him break under the weight of sin, they needed to see Him blaze with the weight of glory.

In a world where pain can shake your faith, Jesus gave them a vision to cling to—so they wouldn’t forget who He truly was when everything looked lost.

But Why the Secrecy?

After it happens, Jesus says,

“Don’t tell anyone about this until after the resurrection.” 

Before they watched Him bleed, they saw Him blaze. Glory came first—for a reason.

Why? Because this wasn’t meant to be proof for the masses. This was a private, sacred revelation for those who were about to walk through the darkest valley. It wasn’t a public miracle to convince skeptics. It was personal glory revealed to strengthen the faithful.

The Transfiguration wasn’t about dazzling light. It was about divine mercy.

Jesus knew what was coming.

He had just told His disciples:

“The Son of Man must suffer many things… be killed, and be raised the third day.” —Luke 9:22

He had just rebuked Peter for resisting that truth:

“Get behind Me, Satan! You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” —Matthew 16:23

They didn’t get it.

They couldn’t bear it.

And He knew it.

So, in His compassion, He gave them something they didn’t even know to ask for: a glimpse of glory before the horror.  A flash of His divinity before the blood.

He took Peter, James, and John up the mountain and revealed what only Heaven had seen:

“His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” —Matthew 17:2

And as they trembled, stunned into silence, the Father’s voice thundered from the cloud:

“This is My beloved Son… listen to Him.” —Matthew 17:5

Because soon, that radiant face would be spit on.

That white robe would be stripped off.

That Son—beloved—would be disfigured, beaten, and hung like a criminal.

“…His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and His form marred beyond human likeness…” —Isaiah 52:14

The road led to suffering—but first, Jesus showed them the fire that couldn’t be crucified.

He knew they would watch in horror as the One they followed was mutilated.

He knew the confusion.

The fear.

The shame.

The questions.

But Jesus, in perfect love, gave them something to hold onto when everything else looked lost. The Transfiguration was not for the crowd. It was for the ones He trusted to carry the memory of His glory through the trauma of His death.

Because when His body was torn and unrecognizable, they would remember what they saw on that mountain. And though grief clouded their minds, glory had already marked their spirits.

Jesus ensured they wouldn’t fail.

Even in their weakness.

Even in their fear.

He made sure they’d seen enough light to find their way through the dark.

That’s not just preparation. That’s compassion laced with divine strategy. That’s the God who doesn’t just call us to endure—He equips us to survive it.

He is not just a man. He is not just a teacher. He is not just a martyr. He is the Son of God clothed in glory—and the voice from heaven still says, “Listen to Him.”

Amanda Allen, the author of Kingdom Revelations, holds the copyright to her work, art, graphics, and videos. Copyright © Amanda Allen, Kingdom Revelations, 2025. All rights reserved. This article may be most definitely be shared with acknowledgment of the author and the original source of the Bible, the Word of God, created by Amanda's Bible Studies. Enjoy!